[...] When I read John Whitehead, the president of the Rutherford Institute, writing that "the Christian Right has used religion like a sledgehammer to beat down its opponents," and that its activists were "seduced by political power," I had to know more.

The Rutherford Instititute, which represented Paula Jones in her sexual harassment case against President Bill Clinton, has been associated with the religious right. Rutherford won the court decision requiring elementary schools to host teacher-led after-school fundamentalist Good News clubs. The institute is representing a New Jersey high school coach suing to participate in his team's "student-led" prayer (more here). Its website lists other cases in which it is defending or promoting sectarian religion in public settings.

So why was Whitehead, writing in Liberty Magazine, criticizing the Christian right for casting its lot with the Bush administration? "In the process of seeking policy outcomes and funding for faith-based initiatives," he wrote, "Christian activists were seduced by political power to such an extent that the gospel of Jesus Christ has been held hostage to a political agenda."

I requested an interview to discuss Whitehead's essay in Liberty, entitled "The Decline of the Christian Right." He granted my request, and we talked by telephone on January 3rd.

Regarded as a "traitor"He described himself as a founder of the Christian right who became disillusioned with its agenda and some of its leaders. "I'll be honest with you," he said. "It was like waking up after a three-day drunk."

Movement leaders such as James Dobson of Focus on the Family now regard him as "a traitor," Whitehead told me.

Whitehead termed George Bush, elected as the candidate of the religious right, "the worst president" we've ever had.

"Be wary of people in power who say they hear from God," Whitehead said in the interview. "I'm a Christian, and I don't think that God talks to people." [...]

"It was like waking up after a three-day drunk." That is one powerful statement.

And before anyone else notes it, Godwin's Law doesn't apply. He was speaking in a phone interview, not online. And even if it did, Godwin himself said his law was only applicable where the comparisons were inappropriate, inordinate, or hyperbolic.